Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) Content Outline and Learning Objectives

January 2012
The following pages present the CSM taxonomy as validated through the 2011 Scrum Alliance
Validation Study. Total questions on CSM exam = 35.
I. General Knowledge
A. Agile Manifesto
Define and describe the four values of Agile as stated in the Agile Manifesto.
B. Scrum Foundations
1. Empirical and defined processes
Define and describe the two terms, including a description of inspect, adapt, and
transparency as the three legs of an empirical process. Describe how the Scrum
Framework is based on empirical process.
2. Sprint
a. Iterative and Incremental
Describe how Scrum uses iterative and incremental development, and identify
the benefits of developing products in an iterativeincremental fashion.
b. Protected
Identify in which ways the Sprint is protected and what it protects. Describe why
the Sprint is protected.
c. Timeboxed
1) Describe what a timebox is, and identify the meaning of Sprints being
timeboxed.
2) Describe the typical duration of a Sprint. Identify the tradeoffs between
shorter and longer duration Sprints.
3. The Significance of Done
Define the role of done, and describe the importance of having a potentially
shippable product increment at the end of each Sprint in order to optimize business
value, mitigate risk, and maximize transparency.
4. The Five Scrum Values
Identify the five Scrum values, and use examples of how Scrum practices support the
application of each.
5. Applicability of Scrum
Identify the environments in which the application of Scrum would lead to excellent
results.

II. Scrum Roles

A. Overview of Scrum Roles
Identify the three Scrum roles and describe why these roles form the Scrum Team.
B. ScrumMaster
1. Responsibilities
a. ProcessRelated Responsibilities
Describe the responsibilities of the ScrumMaster to implement the Scrum
Framework, teach and coach people on how to perform in the various roles.
b. Acts as a Change Agent
Describe how the ScrumMaster will use the learning points of the Scrum Team to
push for changes in the organization in support of Scrum and how the
ScrumMaster might do this.
c. Serves the Product Owner and Team
Identify how the ScrumMaster helps the Product Owner and Team in being
better able to do their jobs by assisting them, facilitating creativity and fostering
empowerment.
d. Removes Impediments
Identify how the ScrumMaster removes impediments
e. Coaches the Product Owner and Team
Identify how the ScrumMaster coaches the Product Owner and Team by
teaching and helping improve productivity, working practices and tools.
f. Protects the Team
Identify how the ScrumMaster will shield the Team from interruptions or
interferences during the Sprint and help ensure the organization respects the
commitment of the Team during the Sprint.
g. Guides the Team
Describe how the ScrumMaster will model the values and principles of Agile and
Scrum, encouraging the team to challenge themselves while remaining true to
the spirit of Scrum.
2. Authority
Describe how the authority of the ScrumMaster is largely indirect and springs mainly
from a deep knowledge of Scrum principles and practices. The ScrumMaster has no
authority to make decisions on behalf of the Team, cannot commit to dates of
delivery or scope but may enforce the Scrum process.
C. Product Owner
1. Responsibilities
a. Drives Product Success
Identify how the Product Owner will drive product success by maintaining the
Product Backlog and guiding the Team with uptodate knowledge of user and
market need.
b. Creates the Product Vision

Describe how the Product Owner creates a Product Vision and shares it with the
Team to provide it with a clear goal. Analyze how the creation of a Product
Vision can motivate a Team to deliver a high quality product.
c. Creates and Maintains the Product Backlog
Identify the responsibility of the Product Owner to create an initial Product
Backlog, and refine and continuously maintain it. The Product Backlog should be
regularly updated as new information is uncovered.
d. Collaborates with the Team
Define and describe the Product Owners responsibility to continuously
collaborate with the Team to better understand requirements and support the
Team to identify how to solve them.
e. Collaborates with Stakeholders
Define different types of stakeholders and describe how the Product Owner
facilitates collaboration between all stakeholders.
f. Participates in Sprint meetings
Identify the requirement for the Product Owner to participate in both the Sprint
Planning meeting and the Sprint Review meeting and that the Product Owner
may also participate in the Daily Scrum meeting and Sprint Retrospective.
2. Authority
Define and describe the Product Owners authority over the Product Backlog items
and their priorities. Also describe the Product Owners authority in determining
when product increments will be released, without overruling Teams estimated
effort required to complete those increments and without violating the Sprint
commitment.
3. Constraints
4. Single Overall Product Owner per Product
a. Define the role of the Product Owner in achieving the objectives of the Sprint.
b. Describe the importance of having a single person playing this role.
5. Organizational Respect
Identify that the Product Owner should be given the authority to make the
necessary decisions to achieve the ROI on the Product, as described in the Scrum
Framework.
D. The Team
1. Responsibilities
a. SelfOrganizing and Whole Team Accountability
Analyze the reasons and implications of selforganization and whole Team
accountability in Scrum, and identify the reasons to not have an appointed Team
leader.
b. Delivers a Product Increment
Describe the importance of creating a potentially shippable product increment in
every Sprint, and what it means for the Team composition and collaboration.
c. Manages the Sprint Backlog and Sprint Progress Tracking
Describe how the Team creates and maintains the Sprint Backlog and tracks
Sprint progress.

d. Participates in Sprint Meetings

Identify the role the Team plays in Sprint Planning meeting, Sprint Review
meeting, Daily Scrum meeting, and Sprint Retrospective. Describe how the team
interacts and contributes to reach each meeting goal.
2. Authority
Describe the authority given to the Team and the balance with the responsibility the
Team is accountable for. Identify the scope in which the Team authority is valid.
3. Teamwork
Describe how building a highly productive Team takes time and patience and that
the Team will need to be guided through this journey by the ScrumMaster. Identify
why it is more important that the Team succeeds than any individual member of the
Team.
4. Team Characteristics
Identify the desirable characteristics of the Team in terms of its size, proximity, skills,
and time availability.
E. Impact on Traditional Roles
1. No Project Manager
Analyze why the project manager role is not present in the Scrum Framework.
2. Specialists
Describe how highly specialized roles like business analyst and software architect are
likely to change in Scrum.
III. Scrum Meetings
A. Sprint Planning Meeting
For the Sprint Planning meeting, describe the following:

The objective of the meeting and required outcomes.

Who participates in the meeting.
When the meeting occurs.
How long the meeting is allowed to last.
Any necessary inputs for the meeting.
Activities and techniques the Scrum Team can employ to achieve the objectives of the
meeting.
The goals of the two parts in which the meeting is usually split.

B. Daily Scrum Meeting

For the Daily Scrum meeting, describe the following:

The objective of the meeting and required outcomes.

Who participates in the meeting.
When the meeting occurs.
How long the meeting is allowed to last.
Any necessary inputs for the meeting.
Activities and techniques the Scrum Team can employ to achieve the objectives of the
meeting.

C. Sprint Review Meeting

For the Sprint Review meeting, describe the following:

The objective of the meeting and required outcomes.

Who participates in the meeting.
When the meeting occurs.
How long the meeting is allowed to last.
Any necessary inputs for the meeting.
Activities and techniques the Scrum Team can employ to achieve the objectives of the
meeting.

D. Sprint Retrospective Meeting

For the Sprint Retrospective meeting, describe the following:

The objective of the meeting and required outcomes.

Who participates in the meeting.
When the meeting occurs.
How long the meeting is allowed to last.
Any necessary inputs for the meeting.
Activities and techniques the Scrum Team can employ to achieve the objectives of the
meeting.

E. Release Planning Meeting

For the Release Planning meeting, describe the following:

Circumstances in which the Release Planning meeting may be helpful.

The objective of the meeting and required outcomes.
Who participates in the meeting.
When the meeting occurs.
How long the meeting is allowed to last.
Any necessary inputs for the meeting.
Activities and techniques the Scrum Team can employ to achieve the objectives of the
meeting.
The importance of updating release plans based on Sprint results and estimations

IV. Scrum Artifacts

A. Product Backlog
1. Definition
Identify the Product Backlog as an ordered and emerging list of user needs plus
anything else that is required to fulfill the Product Vision.
2. Contents
a. Describe how the detail of the Product Backlog items will be tied to their position
(or order) and how the Product Backlog contents will change over time.
b. Describe how the Product Backlog will contain functional, nonfunctional,
architectural, and infrastructural elements as well as risks that need to be
removed or mitigated. Wherever possible, items on the Product Backlog will be
in vertical slices (i.e., each providing value to the user).

3. Management and Refinement

Identify the need for the Product Backlog to be refined periodically in order for it to
remain good enough for the next level of planning. The whole Scrum Team can
participate in the refinement of the Product Backlog.
4. Responsibility and Participation
Identify why the Product Owner is ultimately responsible for the content and state
of the Product Backlog, though anyone is able and encouraged to contribute to the
Product Backlog.
5. Item Readiness
Describe that, in order for an item to be considered ready for inclusion in a Sprint,
each Product Backlog item should be small enough to fit into a Sprint and must be
clear in the expectations of the Product Owner (i.e., by specifying acceptance
criteria).
6. Item Estimation
Describe that the Team is responsible for estimating the items on the Product
Backlog and that this estimate should be made in the simplest, most consistent, and
most realistic manner possible. Scrum does not require any specific estimation
techniques.
B. Product Increment and the Definition of Done
1. Definition of Product Increment
Describe that, at the end of each Sprint, the Product Owner should have the
opportunity to realize value from the investment put in to date as an increment of
functionality perceivable to the final user of the Product. (i.e., they could begin the
deployment process for the work that has been done this Sprint, if they choose).
2. Development of a Product Increment
Identify that the Team will be developing every item from the Product Backlog with
the view that this will be completed to a state of potentially shippable.
3. Definition of Done (DoD)
Identify that Scrums minimal DoD means potentially shippable. If the Team is using
anything other than that minimal DoD, it should be explicitly captured.
4. Understanding the DoD
Analyze the consequences of an inadequate DoD for the Team, the product, and the
organization, and identify that any undone Product Backlog must be returned to
the Product Backlog. Analyze the consequences of having a product in an
unstable/undefined state due to accumulated undone work.
C. Sprint Backlog
1. Definition
Identify the Sprint Backlog as the Teams plan for how it is going to turn the Product
Backlog items selected for a Sprint into potentially shippable functionality.
2. Purpose
Describe the Sprint Backlogs two main purposes: a detailed view of the Team's
expected work for a Sprint and a tool for the Team to manage itself during the
Sprint.

3. Management
Define and describe at least one technique for managing the Sprint Backlog (e.g., a
Sprint Backlog task board).
4. Responsibility
Describe the responsibility of the Team for creating and maintaining the Sprint
Backlog.
5. Update Scope
Identify that the Sprint Backlog should, at all times, show what items are being
worked on and by whom. Sometimes the Sprint Backlog should also show how much
effort is still required to complete these items.
6. Update Frequency
Describe the need for the Team to update the Sprint Backlog at least once a day.
D. Burndown Charts
Describe the circumstances under which Burndown Charts are useful.
1. Sprint Burndown Chart
a. Definition
Define the Sprint Burndown as a chart illustrating a comparison between the
initial estimated amount of work at the Sprint Planning Meeting and the current
estimated amount of work remaining.
b. Purpose
Describe how the Sprint Burndown chart is primarily used by the Team to
manage themselves during the Sprint.
c. Responsibility
Describe that the ScrumMaster is responsible for ensuring that the Team is
aware of its Sprint Burndown status and encouraging the Team to update the
Sprint Burndown chart.
d. Update Frequency
Identify when the Sprint Burndown chart will typically be updated and describe
the reason to do so.
2. Release Burndown Chart
a. Definition
Describe the Release Burndown charts use of empirical data and the estimations
provided by the Team to indicate either the projected end date of the release or
the projected amount of Product Backlog that will be completed.
b. Purpose
Describe the Release Burndown charts use as a tool for the Product Owner in
order to manage the plan for the product release.
c. Responsibility
Identify the Product Owners responsibility to use the empirical data and
estimations produced by the Team in each Sprint to update the Release
Burndown chart.
d. Update Frequency

Identify when the Release Burndown chart will typically be updated and describe
the reason to do so.

Note: Scaling Scrum is a topic that is considered too advanced for the CSM assessmentbased
certificate program.
V. Scaling Scrum
A. Working with Multiple Scrum Teams
1. Scaling Teams
a. Team set up
Define at least one approach to setting up multiple teams working on the same
product in Scrum, and describe the benefits of this approach.
b. Scaling up
Identify different approaches to scaling up Teams gradually, and describe the
benefits of each approach.
2. Scaling Product Owners
Describe possible ways in which multiple Product Owners can collaborate to work on
the same product.
3. Scaling the Product Backlog
Describe the common challenges of managing a large Product Backlog and which
techniques to use to facilitate its management.
4. Scaling the Sprint Meetings
a. Sprint Planning Meeting
Describe possible approaches to run a Sprint Planning meeting with multiple
teams.
b. Sprint Review Meeting
Describe the challenges to an effective Sprint Review meeting with multiple
teams and how those challenges may be addressed.
c. Sprint Retrospective Meeting
Describe the challenges to an effective Sprint Retrospective meeting with
multiple teams and how those challenges may be addressed.
d. Scrum of Scrums Meeting
Describe the objectives of the Scrum of Scrums (SoS) and identify who
participates in the SoS.
B. Working with Distributed Scrum Teams
1. Product Owner in a Different Location
Identify common challenges when the Product Owner works in a different location
from the rest of the Scrum Team and describe strategies to deal with these
challenges.
2. Scrum Team Split among Different Locations
Identify common challenges of working with a dispersed team and describe
strategies to deal with these challenges.
3. Importance of Infrastructure and Engineering Practices

Describe the impacts of scaling Scrum and working with distributed Scrum Teams on
the infrastructure and tools as well as the engineering practices.